JAKARTA, Feb 7 (Asia Pulse) - Indonesia needs a standby loan of US$4 billion this year to ward off the impact of global and food crisis, the government said.

The contingency loan would be sought from a consortium of multilateral financial agencies or friendly countries, finance minister Agus D.W. Martowardojo said.

Rachmat Waluyanto, debt management director general, said so far Indonesia has received offer for a standby loan only from the World Bank.

Waluyanto said his office is preparing program to cope with possible food crisis to be financed with a standby loan, adding that an agreement is expected to be signed before the end of the first half of this year.